This is Family Business
by Gorramit Girl
Summary: The only way the Originals can survive Esther's ritual is to drink from Elena. Luckily for them, Elena has a plan. The only hitch is that it gets a bit more intense than any of them intended. (Pairings & Warnings inside.) 1st in the Family Business Series.


**Warnings**: Bloodplay, Dubious Consent, Incest, Multiple Partners

**Pairings**: Elena/Originals (Elena/Rebekah, Elena/Finn, Kol, Elena/Elijah/Klaus, Finn/Kol/Rebekah, Elena/Elijah)

**A/N**: This is an older fic, written for a prompt at **vd_kink** over on LiveJournal. _(And the fact that it was written for a kink meme should let you know just how seriously this needs to be taken, tbh.)_ This was started before 3.18 aired and that episode well and truly Jossed it. And I took **serious** liberties with the magic (because y'know, the show is so big on logic I figured why even bother). Oh well. Major thanks and kudos to **guinny_hamilton** who graciously agreed to beta read this fic and reign in my occasional appalling abuse of commas and general disdain for proper structure. And in case anyone is wondering, "Do you have any shame?" The answer is "No, not really." :D

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**This is Family Business**

()()()()

_All she felt was a pounding in her head. Her limbs were heavy and she wouldn't open her eyes because she knew the light would be blinding. She could hardly breathe._

_Her only comfort was the warm embrace she was wrapped in._

()()()()

Elena had quickly made up her mind on what she was going to do. She had a plan A as well as a plan B and come hell or high water, she was going to see one of them through. This wasn't walking into the lions' den; this was running into the lions' den and making it known that she was fair game. She adjusted the bag she carried and steeled herself. A mere minute passed as she waited for the door to be answered - by a hybrid, of course - and boldly asked to speak with Klaus. She was shown into the private family parlor, where the five siblings were gathered, speaking in a language she figured to be long dead.

Klaus and the others looked surprised at her presence there.

"Come to gloat at our demise?" Rebekah snarled. "Isn't this what you wanted? For us to die so that you can have your perfect little life?"

"I don't want anyone dead," Elena said. "Except maybe Klaus, but if the only way it can happen is if the rest of you are killed too, it's not worth it."

"Why are you here, Elena?" Klaus asked tiredly. She'd never thought she'd see him so defeated. "Esther's ritual is mere hours from working and you shall be free. As for my siblings and I, tonight we shall die as a family."

"I managed to sneak out before Bonnie or Damon could spell me inside the house or lock me up. I know how to save you all from the ritual," she said.

"I can only assume then, that the way to do so involves you." Elijah stared at her with those dark eyes. "Otherwise they wouldn't have wanted to keep you away."

"You need my blood to survive Esther's ritual." She let that fact sink in for them.

"Am I understanding correctly that you're volunteering to be our snack so that our bitch of a mother cannot destroy us?" Kol finally asked, for once without a hint of mischief in his demeanor.

"Don't be so impressed, brother," Rebekah said. "She's not doing it for us. Well, not _all_ of us." She threw a scathing look at Elijah.

"I can't help but wonder why you're being so selfless," Klaus mused, now with a great deal more fight in him, and he sent a sly smile Elijah's way. "Not that our dear Elijah isn't worth such a sacrifice, of course." He was before her in an instant, brushing her hair out of her face, menacing yet tender.

"I'll be dead." Elena shrugged. "And by Esther's ritual you'll be re-bound."

Klaus stepped back and swallowed heavily.

Elena smirked. "Die forever, or save yourself and live with being just a vampire and no way to re-break the curse. Either way you're not a threat to me or the ones I love anymore. Either way, I win."

Klaus looked at her with a sort of pained admiration. "You really have come a long way."

"You started this game, Klaus. All I'm doing is finishing it."

"Can we get on with this or are we just going to die?" Kol asked.

"Finn, you're not saying much," Rebekah said. "Are you still convinced that killing yourself is the way to go?"

"I am thinking that it has been over 900 years since I have had a proper drink," Finn finally said, staring intensely at Elena. She only knew the barest details of how he'd come to side against his mother - something involving Esther staking Sage.

"Take my offer or don't," Elena said. "Like I said, either way I win."

"Oh, I think we can make it a bit more interesting than that." Rebekah left and then quickly returned with a glass and knife. She cut her palm, let her blood flow into the glass, and then handed it to Kol who caught on quickly and did the same.

Elena snorted and pulled a small vial from her pocket - it was filled with blood. "I'm way ahead of you. Katherine gave this to me after Klaus killed Mikael." She tossed it to Finn who now had the glass of blood and was adding his own. "Go ahead and add it."

Rebekah's face fell at Elena's nonchalance at the whole matter.

"Elena, there is no need for you to become one of us. I still have the elixir-" Elijah started before being cut off.

"I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, Elijah. I think I knew from the moment Esther told me her plans, as much as I wanted to deny it. My entire life has been defined by vampires and the supernatural. This is just me facing it." She looked at Elijah. "I'm choosing this, because funnily enough, this is the only way I'm ever going to be able to live my life."

Klaus added his blood to the glass with a inscrutable look. Clearly between the choice of living with his curse once again or dying, the curse was the lesser of two evils. He tried for one last attempt at intimidation. "What makes you think I won't hunt you down for the rest of your existence?"

"Because I saved your life. If you are alive, have your family with you, and still can't be happy, then you're even more pathetic than I thought."

Klaus finally smiled at her - strangely enough, his smile no longer terrified her. "Well-played, sweetheart."

Elena looked to Elijah, who asked her one last time. "You are sure that this is what you want, Elena?"

"Yes."

Elijah slowly sliced his palm and added his blood to the glass.

Klaus looked at his siblings. "I suggest we all take this somewhere more comfortable." He gave Elena a look she couldn't exactly read. "I don't need for you to die and stain my floor. I just renovated."

()()()()

_Everything was so _loud_. She could hear sounds she hadn't known existed. She just couldn't seem to process them in her mind - they sounded so jumbled. She thought she heard people talking._

_She felt safe, though, in those comforting arms._

()()()()

They were all in Klaus's room, as it was the biggest and he had been planning on buying new bedding before his mother reappeared with the intent to kill him, anyway. "It's no great loss," he said casually.

"Can we please hurry this up?" Kol asked. "We are on a deadline here."

"Be patient, Kol," Finn chided. It was the first time Elena had seen something like humor in his demeanor.

"Finn is right, brother. There's no need to be hasty - she's saving our lives-"

"She helped to nearly end them."

"And we can be civilized about this," Klaus finished, giving Rebekah a hard glare for her interruption.

He shrugged off his shirt and Elena stared, confused. "It's a favorite shirt of mine, Love. I'd hate to ruin it with all that blood." He walked over to her, gait as smooth as always. "I almost hate you right now," he said quietly, though everyone could hear his words perfectly well. "But I must admire that Petrova fire which burns so brightly in you. This makes twice that you have come to your death for me - I will not forget that, nor will the others." He backed away and Elijah was before her, suit jacket and tie removed, sleeves of his expensive shirt rolled up.

"I cannot thank you enough for what you are about to sacrifice, my lovely Elena," he said, cupping her face tenderly in his hands. "Your compassion truly is a gift. When you change... Hold onto to that."

His eyes darkened and for the first time in all that she'd known him, the veins around his eyes appeared and his teeth extended. "I promise I'll take care of you," he whispered. He brushed her hair from her shoulder to expose her neck, and gently bit her.

Her knees buckled at the invasion of his teeth and she moaned as she felt him pull the blood from her body. She had been bit before, many times, but it had never felt like this. "Elijah," she whispered, her eyes rolling back. And then his teeth were gone and he was carrying her over to Klaus's bed.

He sat up against the ornate headboard and settled her in his arms. She felt light, her head wasn't quite spinning, but she felt... aroused.

"Shh," Elijah soothed her. "I'm right here."

Someone - Kol - was nuzzling her left wrist, kissing it and inhaling deeply. Finn was doing the same on her right. She looked at their faces, the darkened lines of hunger - the desperate desire to live. They bit her wrists in unison and she moaned loudly, throwing her head back. It was shamelessly erotic, the way Kol and Finn were caressing her as they drank. Elijah kissed the top of her head, his arousal growing against her.

Her shoes and socks were suddenly gone. Soft hands danced around her belly and she opened her eyes just enough to see Rebekah undo her jeans and pull them off of her to reveal the sinful black lacy coverings she wore - she didn't miss the appraising look Klaus gave her - then promptly rip them off.

"My, my, you _are_ a naughty girl," Rebekah crooned and licked up Elena's inner thigh where her femoral artery was pulsing away in a tantalizing rhythm. "But you have so many people fooled."

"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Rebekah?" Kol smirked, pulling himself from Elena's wrist and licking the remaining blood off her skin.

Finn laughed softly against her wrist and Kol's hand undid the buttons of her shirt. When it was hanging open, his hands ripped the front of her black bra and then he and Finn began to fondle her breasts, pinching and pulling at her nipple just so. Elena arched into their touch. Behind her Elijah shifted.

Suddenly Rebekah bit down on her thigh - much more gentle than she would have thought. Elena whimpered at the onslaught of sensation and then Rebekah smirked as she slid two fingers teasingly along Elena's slick folds. At her loud cry of pleasure Finn finished drinking of her and turned his attention to her right breast, sucking every bit as hungrily as he had her wrist. On her left Kol was just as entranced. Rebekah's fingers entered her and began to slowly pump in and out, all while Rebekah was continuing to feed, and then her fingernail exerted just the tiniest bit of pressure on Elena's clit and Elena came with a yell.

()()()()

_Things were getting clearer. She could make out the words the voices were saying. They were talking about her, she realized. A painful burning rose in her - she was so very hungry._

_She'd have to leave her place of safety soon, because of the hunger, but not yet._

()()()()

"Rebekah," Elijah said tightly, keeping Elena's writhing body firmly against his. "That's enough."

With a smirk at Elijah's irritation, Rebekah reluctantly withdrew her fingers from Elena's tight channel and her teeth from Elena's thigh. She licked her lips and arched a brow at Kol, who along with Finn, abandoned the caressing of Elena's body to take their sister into their arms. They moved to the foot of Klaus's gigantic bed and Elena vaguely thought there was something horrifyingly beautiful about the three of them together.

Everything was starting to swim and there was a pleasant buzzing sensation in her mind. She allowed Elijah to hand her into Klaus's arms and she fell against his bare chest like a ragdoll. Klaus's embrace was tender, the very last thing Elena would have expected. She could just make out the sound and motion of Elijah stripping his remaining clothing away before he removed her blood-stained shirt and ruined bra.

"Not to worry, sweetheart," Klaus whispered against her. "This is an old dance for you and I." He delicately shifted her to face Elijah, who drew her into his arms with care. Klaus stroked his hands up and down her back as Elijah held her over his waiting erection and slowly brought her down to take him in.

Elena, weak from heavy blood loss and her previous orgasm, was content to allow Elijah to set whatever pace he cared. Behind her Klaus brushed her hair aside to plant wet kisses against her neck, before moving down to where Elijah had bit her and let his teeth sink in.

She trembled in Elijah's arms and embraced him with what little strength she had left. Everything was becoming so dark, but the sensations were feeling amplified. Her eyes closed in time to miss Elijah give Klaus a warning look - one Klaus cheerfully ignored.

She wasn't so far gone that she couldn't feel Klaus's slick fingers play against her rear hole, nor could she drown out the fevered moans of Kol, Rebekah, and Finn. Elijah kissed her at exactly the same moment Klaus's erection entered her from behind and Elena felt a strange mix of power and helplessness as the two men began to move in earnest. It was a heady give and take - Elena giving of her blood and her body and the others taking of her in the only ways they knew how.

Klaus finally finished drinking from her to concentrate on thrusting into her in the rhythm he and Elijah had built and she could feel herself near death. In and out and in and out - Elena was lost to the pleasure and pain. She was climbing inexplicably higher and higher and then she was falling in a wave of darkest pleasure, crashing down and writhing mindlessly between Klaus and Elijah, both of whom came soon after.

Klaus pulled himself from her with a tender kiss to her neck where he and Elijah had both bit her. "My eternal gratitude, love," he whispered. He left the room, along with Kol, Rebekah, and Finn, who had finished themselves and looked exceptionally pleased with the turn the events had taken.

She was too exhausted and weak to pay much heed to his kind words. A cool glass was pressed to her lips and Elijah held her head back, encouraging her to drink. It was blood and she wanted to spit it out, reject it, but it was sweet to her deadened taste and she drank hungrily. It wouldn't be enough - she'd given far too much blood and when she'd emptied the glass, Elijah pulled his limp cock from her body and held her gently in his arms.

"Everything is going to be okay," he said softly. She was fading so fast - the vampire blood she'd drank was only delaying the inevitable.

"So long as you are," she weakly managed, eyes still closed.

He held her close and kissed her tenderly, moving his lips over hers with utmost care, before kissing her eyelids, her cheeks, her forehead. He kissed her as she took her dying breath.

()()()()

_She could smell so sharply. She was completely clean - so was whoever was holding her. The sheets were clean too, though she could smell sex and blood from somewhere. Everything felt more tangible, more... Well, _more_. The robe she was wearing was silky against her skin, smelled sweet and clean. She was still so hungry._

_It was almost time, she knew._

()()()()

Elijah held her for a few moments as she lay there, dead, a willing sacrifice so that he and his siblings could continue their eternal existence. He hoped that it actually worked, else Elena's death would have been in vain.

His siblings gave him a respectable distance and he took care as he carried Elena's body into his own bathroom, where someone (his guess was Klaus had ordered one of his few remaining hybrids) had already set a hot bath. Bathing her body he denied himself the dried blood at her neck, wrists, and thigh, though its taste was fresh in his mind. Her hair was carefully washed and her body dried with a clean towel. Elijah wrapped her in a satin robe that had been laid out for her and settled her down on his bed. He showered and dressed quickly - not wanting to spend a minute more away from her than he had to.

He thought back on the time he'd first met her. He had been so sure that it was Katerina playing a dangerous game with him. He'd looked at her standing there, pink shirt stained with dried blood, terrified and alone. He had _known_ that it wasn't Katerina, but his plan to kill Klaus couldn't stand on mere intuition. So he had invaded her space and leaned in so close - he had wanted to kiss her, wanted to know if her lips felt the same - then he'd breathed her in, heard her heart pound wildly - and had known with complete certainty that this was someone new. "Hello, there," he'd said, and her heart had continued its feverish beat - and despite the smile he knew had graced his face, she had still been terrified of him.

But she'd proved a worthy foe - for all that a mere human girl could oppose a being of his stature. He'd finessed an invitation into her home, subtly threatened her family, displayed his absolute power over her - and she'd _negotiated_ with him. She'd faced him - knowing what the consequences would ultimately be - and bargained with him. He had done his research, had compelled residents of Mystic Falls to tell him all they knew of the Gilberts, had listened so carefully to the conversations he could hear regarding the Salvatores and he'd gleaned one thing - Elena was never approached as a person of her own, but rather someone to be protected. And then he'd found the way to get her on his side, or at least, cooperate with him.

And Elena had been magnificent - she, like him, understood the sacred bond of family - family, above all else, always and forever. She'd extended that to her friends, her loved ones. She would lay her life down in order to keep them safe. Elijah saw so much of himself in her, the same pressing honor, only ever broken when family was at stake. He saw in her the same weight of the need to put up a strong front and do what must be done. Her facade had been impressive, for all that his was near flawless after a thousand years.

Yet it was inevitably the same noble desire and duty to their families that always drove them to betray each other, over and over again - but always in complete understanding of why. And now... He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Now Elena had a way to bring Klaus under control, protect her loved ones and herself - and, he dared to think, protect him. She'd made the decision to turn herself into a vampire - something she'd never wanted.

The sound of the door opening jolted him out of his deep musings. A bag, the one Elena had brought with her, was placed just inside and the door shut, granting them their privacy once more. Elijah could only hope that Elena would be as understanding when she awoke as she was before she had died. He didn't think he could bear it if the compassion he admired so greatly was forced out of her. Feeling her re-animating body stirring ever so faintly, Elijah smiled.

Klaus and the others chose that exact moment to enter his room, talking amongst themselves.

"All I'm saying is that you enjoyed it a little too much, Rebekah," Kol was saying with a smirk. "Not that it isn't delightful to see two women enjoying each other, but you _were_ something of a harlot."

"Says the man who shared not one but two women with his brothers," Rebekah retorted. "And I'm glad I got my fun somewhere, seeing as you and Finn seemed to have suffered for being locked in coffins for so long."

Klaus snorted at that and ignored the death glares Finn and Kol were shooting his and Rebekah's way. "And if anyone's a harlot, it's Elena. She did have all five of us," Rebekah continued.

"I suppose though we should not count it as a strike against her, seeing as she did save our lives," Finn reasoned.

"Not to mention how well she handled the incest," Kol added delightfully, just to irk his siblings. They rarely acknowledged the i-word amongst themselves, even if they were all old enough to understand that for them, taboos were mostly to be ignored.

"If you all are quite finished," Elijah said sternly, though his face softened as Elena shifted ever so slightly in his arms.

"She's coming around then, is she?" Klaus looked pleased.

"You're taking this far better than I would have been expected," Elijah commented. "No more being a hybrid or creating them, no more doppelgangers."

"I'm still alive." Klaus shrugged. "If anything I'm self-serving. While I certainly won't hunt her down and torture her for eternity, I will delight in the fact that every so often I'll be able to show up and irritate her beyond all reason. Maybe I'll compel her to commit arson or some other form of havoc." His family stared at him. "In addition to being self-serving I'm also petty and optimistic."

Kol caught Rebekah's gaze and they both snorted.

"It certainly evolved into something more sexual than we'd intended," Klaus observed.

"Speak for yourself," Finn muttered, smirking at Elijah's glare.

"Either way, we're all still alive," Rebekah said. "There's that at least." It was probably the closest thing to gratitude to Elena that Rebekah would ever acknowledge.

"That we are," Kol agreed, giving Elena a fond look.

"She's about to wake up," Elijah finally said.

Her eyes were moving rapidly under her eyelids and her chest was rising and falling in the quick manner of a body unused to doing anything else. Her entire body twitched ever so suddenly and finally her eyes opened.

()()()()

She opened her eyes and was greeted by the sight of every Original but the one she wanted to see. They stared at her, though what they were waiting for, she didn't know.

"Welcome back, Elena," Elijah said.

She wanted to laugh because _of course_ it was his arms she'd been wrapped in. She acknowledged his greeting by turning to look at him and smile.

She was so hungry. Her throat was burning and there was a pressure in her mind that she knew was driving her to do one thing. She spotted her bag next to the door and moved to it in an instant. She pulled out one of three blood bags and tore into it with none of the finesse she'd seen other vampires manage.

The blood hit her throat and everything was wonderful again. She wanted to drink and drink until she was sure she'd never be hungry again. Then something in her mind - something important - cleared and she threw the remaining blood bags to Klaus and Elijah. "You'll need to share those... last part of stopping the ritual."

Rebekah snatched the bag out of Klaus's hands and ripped in. She drank a third of the contents before tossing it to Kol, who did the same, and handed it off to Finn, who drank until it was empty. Klaus waited for Elijah to finish delicately sipping at the bag in his hands before he got his own drink.

"So that's it then?" Kol asked. "This twisted family of ours lives to terrorize another day?"

Still hungry, Elena nodded. "Do you have more? I only brought the three."

"Of course." Finn left to retrieve more blood.

She went back to join Elijah on the bed, because there was nothing else to do.

Playing with the hem of the robe she was currently wearing, she was amazed at how incredible the texture felt against her fingertips. She supposed she should say something, but she just didn't know.

"How do you feel?" Elijah asked as he moved to sit beside her.

Elena shrugged. "Hungry," she answered honestly. "I feel like I haven't eaten in days. Otherwise, I don't know. How is someone supposed to feel after they become a vampire?"

Elijah laughed softly, though there was nothing mean-spirited about it. "I think you'll figure it out."

Finn returned with two blood bags. Elena had enough willpower to drink normally rather than tear into it. She finished the bags and sighed, feeling much better and more like herself.

"What time is it?"

"Nine in the morning. The sun has already risen," Klaus said. "You'll burn."

"And I don't think Bonnie will be forgiving me for ruining Esther's ritual anytime soon, so unless you all have a witch on staff, I'm stuck."

"Come with me," Rebekah said suddenly, leaning in to capture Elena's gaze. There was something... different lacing her voice. "We'll get you some clothes." Rebekah's brothers glared at her.

Elena shook her head. "I'm good for now," she said. "I brought some clothes in my bag." They all stared at her, bewildered. Klaus looked at the labels on the blood bags Elena had brought with her. He cocked his head as though he'd never seen anything like her. Elena smirked as she saw him figure it out. "Like I said: either way I win."

"Nik, why can't I compel her?" Rebekah asked, irritated.

Elijah looked at Elena and put the puzzle together. "Because she's one of us." He was stunned.

"I thought that the blood you had me add to our own smelled different," Finn mused.

"That wasn't Katherine's blood?" Elijah asked.

"No, it was hers," Elena said. "I just added some of mine."

Kol burst into laughter, completely amused by the entire issue. He looked at her with great admiration, as though he'd just found a worthy opponent, someone who could be just as devious as himself. "Elena," he said when he finally started coming down from his hilarity. "Elena, we really do have to keep you. There's no way I'm not keeping someone around who can fool all of us!"

Finn smirked and even Rebekah looked grudgingly impressed. Klaus just shook his head and smiled slightly. "You do realize that this is the first and only time I'll ever admit defeat at your hands?"

Elena arched a brow back, pleased with whatever new truce was between them all. She looked to Elijah who gave her one of his indiscernible expressions. "Leave," he said finally.

Elena drew back as if he'd struck her. Bowing her head, she moved away from him but was pulled back and pushed down against the mattress by Elijah before she'd made any true headway. "Not you," Elijah said fiercely as he pinned her down and stared at her as if she were the most desirable woman he'd ever seen. "Them."

"And it starts," Rebekah muttered. "We've lost him again."

Elena heard them leave - she could hear _everything_ - and Kol laughed a delighted "I'm going to enjoy having her around," before Finn added "Myself as well. Though I have the feeling our little gathering this evening won't be happening again, if Elijah gets his way." Somewhere around the foyer she heard Klaus say "We won't be mentioning this little interlude to Caroline." They actually went so far as to leave the house.

Finally Elijah spoke. "I seem to have a habit of underestimating you, my lovely Elena."

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Or are you angry with me for using Esther's magic this way?"

He kissed her in response and it wasn't anything like what she'd imagined in her wildest fantasies... It was _better_. His lips were forceful and demanding against hers, taking possession of her mouth. Savoring his kiss, she broke his hold on her with little effort to wrap him tight against her. He was going to be hers every bit as much as she was going to be his.

"Or possibly my deviousness is actually a turn-on for you?" she prodded as she broke his kiss. She set about loosening his tie to draw it from under his shirt collar before starting to unbutton his shirt.

"It's not unwelcome," he replied. He ripped the robe away from her body and unbuckled his belt. He shifted away to quickly remove his shoes and socks. She appeared oddly mesmerized by the sight of his bare feet.

"They're not that interesting," Elijah said with a laugh. He unzipped his pants and removed them along with his boxers.

"I disagree," Elena said. She pulled him back, flipped him (it was so easy how she could do that), and straddled him. "But I'll do that another time." His neck was particularly appealing at that moment and she let her tongue taste every possible bit of it. She could feel his growing arousal beneath her. She grinned and rolled her hips down against his.

That action seemed to snap him out of his amusement and she found their positions reversed _again_. "You have no idea the things I'm going to do to you," he whispered darkly in her ear. "Or that I want you to do to me."

Turned on as she was, Elena wasn't prepared for the ball of lust that sparked in her body at his words, a tightly coiled flame that burned and had her desperate for relief. She started to undulate against him and he finally gave in to her - or to himself - and slid inside her with a forceful thrust. Elena howled and raked her nails down his back, eyes darkening in hunger and lust.

There was merely a shadow of a gentleman in Elijah's face - this was Elijah like she'd never seen him. She'd seen him doling out vengeance, seen how far he'd go to protect his family - she'd never thought she'd see him this passionate about _her_. She never thought she'd be this passionate about _him_.

"You're thinking," Elijah said with a smirk. "I'll have to do something about that." And he did.

They were both mindless of anything other than the searing pleasure their bodies drew from each other. Blood followed the paths Elena's nails had made; it also framed the many now-healed markings Elijah had made on her neck and breasts.

He lost count of how many times she screamed his name, moaned it. He was fairly sure it rivaled his adulations of her name, spilled forth from his lips like a saving grace. He held her body so close to his as he thrust harder, deeper, faster and she clung to him eagerly, unwilling to grant the smallest amount of distance between their bodies.

Elijah came with a final thrust and shout of her name just as she screamed his own and clenched impossibly tighter around him. He collapsed atop her and she held him to her when he tried to pull out and settle beside her.

"You can't break me," Elena whispered.

He smiled at her and kissed her deeply.

()()()()

They lay in a tangled mess of limbs, both utterly at peace with the world around them. Elijah's bed was essentially destroyed - a new frame and headboard would be in order, and the bedding itself was ripped beyond repair. The pillows had mercifully been spared, but only just. The wall behind the bed now sported a thin crack that also ran through part of the ceiling.

"Are you okay?" Elena asked quietly.

"You turned yourself into a vampire and you're asking me if I'm okay." Elijah marveled.

"You never really answered my question before," she prodded. "Unless sex _was_ your answer. In which case, good answer."

Elijah laughed softly at that. "I am... relieved. My family is alive and our mother can no longer harm us. Klaus is re-bound once more and will be forever unable to break his curse. And you, my lovely Elena, are still _you_, despite your turning." He looked at her, holding her gaze with the intensity she'd come to associate with him. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," she said. "I'll be okay." She frowned slightly. "Elijah, I slept with you and your family. All at once."

Elijah nodded. "You did."

"And they're-"

"Oh, they won't judge," Elijah said simply. "We've done worse in our existence," he added as an afterthought.

"Are you-"

"Elena, it was a brave thing you did and I think no less of you for it. I'm not upset with you; I have no right to be. You saved my family and you saved me. You were also quite magnificent as you did so." He studied her. "Nothing is expected of you," he said finally, meaning deep in his words.

Elena nodded in understanding, blushing as much as a vampire could. "So what happens now?"

Elijah was silent for a time.

"We'll have a ring made for you to start with," he said. "Klaus and I have several connections. And you are welcome to stay... here as long as you would like. We can teach you control, how to deal with all of this."

"Elijah Mikaelson, was that your way of asking me to move in with you?" She gave him a sly grin.

"It is forward of me, I know-" He was cut off by her kiss.

"I'm going to have to move in with you; I won't be able to get into my house," Elena laughed. She fell back and settled herself against Elijah when she heard a loud, insistent buzzing. She sat back up and focused on her bag, and in seconds she'd gotten her cell phone from the bag, had read the messages, and sent one back.

"Anything to be concerned with?" Elijah asked, pulling her back into his arms.

"Stefan, Damon and the others wanted to know where I was and what I was doing - they're panicking because the ritual failed." Elena shrugged, a wonderful sense of non-obligation fulfilling her. She didn't have anything to really worry about that couldn't be dealt with in the coming days - not with Elijah and the rest of his family behind her.

"And your response?"

Elena kissed him again and laid her head on his chest, their hands clasped and fingers laced. "I said I was taking care of family business." She kissed him. "We are family now, right?"

"Always," Elijah swore.

"And forever," she promised.

So it was.

()()()

**A/N**: Thanks for reading! This story is continued in the 2nd fic in the Family Business series, "Heads Will Roll"!


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